Draftsman insurance

Professional liability is foundational coverage that can help pay for claims when a client believes you’ve made a mistake that cost them money or caused other types of damages. 

Errors and omissions insurance for draftsmen (E&O) typically helps protect against financial losses caused by mistakes, scale errors, or omissions in CAD drawings and architectural specifications.

These are some of the common losses that drafter professional liability can help pay for: 

• Dimensional errors
• Scale errors
• Conflicting numbers
• Unlabeled items
• Omissions

Let’s say you created detailed construction drawings for a commercial office renovation. After construction begins, the contractor discovers that several structural support beam dimensions are incorrect. The contractor must demolish part of the project and rework it to meet the engineer’s specifications, causing a three-week construction delay. The building owner sues you to recoup the additional construction costs. Professional liability insurance that covers these sort of CAD drafting errors would help pay for this type of loss, including legal defense costs, settlements, or judgments. 

It’s critical to keep good records of the original plans and who made any revisions. Thorough documentation can make it easier to prove where responsibility lies if there is an allegation of financial loss.

General liability insurance for draftsmen helps protect against third-party claims involving bodily injury or property damage to others.

Independent drafter general liability insurance can help pay for covered losses, such as those described below:

• Medical expenses and legal expenses if a client, vendor, or visitor gets injured at your office or job site
• Third-party property damage caused by your business operations (e.g., accidentally damaging a client’s office during a site visit)
• Legal defense costs including attorney fees, court costs, and settlements or judgments for covered general liability claims
• Personal and advertising injury for allegations of libel, slander, copyright infringement in advertising, or other covered advertiser-related offenses

A drafting company business owner’s policy (BOP) combines general liability with commercial property coverage for offices, computers, and other business equipment. 

Draftsmen often own essential high-value tools that could be very costly to replace in the event of fire, theft, or another covered loss. Business Personal Property (BPP) insurance is highly recommended coverage if you house high-value equipment. However, if you take your tools in transit to a jobsite, you should consider inland marine coverage for additional equipment protection. 

In addition to commercial general liability, a BOP covers drafting shop property insurance for business property such as:

• High-performance CAD workstations
• Large-format plotters
• Digitizers

Freelance draftsmen insurance is available in a BOP or as separate policies for freelancers who must protect themselves and/or their businesses. 

Freelancers and entrepreneurs can learn more about starting and operating a small business at the Small Business Administration. It also has a section for business insurance for CAD freelancers and other small business owners.

Draftsmen depend on digital tools to complete nearly every project. CAD software, cloud-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) platforms, and electronic blueprint sharing have largely replaced paper drawings.

These tools improve efficiency, yet also create new risks that traditional business insurance may not cover. CAD software liability insurance can help cover such risks. 

The following types of events could cause CAD files to be lost, corrupted, or completely destroyed: 

• Ransomware attack
• Malware infection
• Server failure
• Accidental deletion

A cyber incident could cause you to lose months of work. It can delay projects, increase costs, and potentially expose your business to claims from clients if you miss a deadline.

Imagine arriving at work to find that your computer network is infected with ransomware. You panic as you have two days to submit final construction drawings for a commercial renovation. The attack encrypts hundreds of CAD files and project documents stored on the firm’s server and cloud storage, preventing you from accessing them. 

The delay forces the client to postpone construction. The drafting firm incurs significant costs to investigate the attack, restore data from backups, recover corrupted files, and resume operations. 

Cyber liability insurance may help pay for the following: 

• Data recovery
• Forensic investigations
• Ransomware response
• Client notification costs
• Business interruption as a result of a covered event

Cyber liability insurance not only helps protect your work. It also can help protect your company’s reputation.

Workers’ compensation protects business owners and workers if an employee gets injured or becomes ill because of their job. 

Workers’ compensation requirements vary by state, while many require it if you have one or more employees, others have different employee thresholds or exemptions. 

Drafter workers’ compensation can help cover some of following costs for your employees,  and keep you from paying out of pocket:

• Medical expenses for illnesses and injuries
• Lost wages
• Funeral expenses
• Employer liability 

Here’s a common example: Workers’ compensation may help cover a loss such as a worker who gets carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands as a result of excessive keyboard typing, causing numbness and pain in the wrists. Workers’ compensation can help pay for the employee’s treatment and a portion of lost time from work.

Draftsmen workers’ compensation insurance requirements vary by state. Find your state’s requirements at your state department of insurance website. Be certain to purchase the necessary coverages and limits to prevent fines and penalties.